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I'm top 10% T2 that's pretty strong regionally. However, I don't really want to practice in this market (chose to be close to home because of my grandparent that had a terminal illness) so for next summer I'm targeting some firms in different markets. Evidently this T2 doesn't place out of my home state very much so there are very few alumni at these firms - sometimes literally just 1 person.

Would it make sense to cold email an alum to ask advice about the firm if I'm applying for a completely different market (specific example: ONE alumni in the NY office but I'm targeting west coast)? I would like to ask questions about the firm in general and also his path from this T2 --> bigger markets but I don't want him to feel like he's wasting his time if I say I'm applying for a different office.